Evacuation stretcher



March 8, 1955' STONE 2,703,412

EVACUATION STRETCHER Filed NOV. 23, 1951 20 16! 36, A d *2 V 1 N VENTOR W/W,/5mwz v Wad m ATTORNEYS United States Patent EVACUATION STRETCHER David J. Stone, Stoneham, Mass.

Application November 23, 1951, Serial No. 257,877

1 Claim. (Cl. -82) This invention relates to stretcher or litter construction. More particularly, the invention has reference to a stretcher adapted particularly to serve as an evacuation stretcher, whereby bed patients of hospitals or similar institutions can be removed speedily from said institutions in the case of a catastrophe such as a fire or bombmg.

it is well appreciated by those charged with the governing of institutions of the type referred to that in the event of a sudden catastrophe or emergency, the amount of time allowed for the evacuation of patients may be so small as to make it impossible for the attendants or other rescuers to remove more than a comparatively small number of said patients. Obviously, said amount of time is dictated by the circumstances of the emergency itself and the hospital attendants or other rescuing parties must work at top speed to evacuate as many patients as possible.

However, in many instances, a patient is unable to aid himself in any way, and in these cases, much time is lost in transferring the patient from his hospital bed to a stretcher, for evacuation from the building. It follows that the consumption of an excessive amount of time in evacuating one patient will inevitably reduce the number of patients evacuated within a given period of time dictated by the circumstances of the emergency situation.

It is, accordingly, the broad object of the present invention to provide a stretcher or litter which is so formed as to be normally positioned between the mattress and springs of a bed, there to remain until such time as an emergency might arise, at which time the stretcher can be grasped and lifted in a manner that will permit the patient to be evacuated upon his or her mattress. In this way, it is proposed to reduce the amount of time required for the evacuation of a single patient, and it IS further proposed to permit the evacuation of patients without the danger of injuring them during their transfer from a bed to a stretcher.

It is another important object to provide an evacuation stretcher of the character stated which can be constructed at a sulficiently low cost to permit its being made a permanent part of a hospital bed, not to be used until such time as an emergency might arise.

Another important object is to provide an evacuation stretcher as described which, when positioned between a mattress and bed springs, will lie so flat, throughout its full area, as to eliminate the formation of undesirable thicknesses between the mattress and springs.

Yet another important object is to provide an evacuation structure of the type stated which is formed throughout of flexible material, said structure being of simple construction and being formed wholly from a few lengths of ordinary canvas webbing.

Other objects will appear from the following description, the claim appended thereto, and from the annexed drawing, in which like reference characters designate like parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of an evacuation stretcher formed in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective view, a mattress supported thereupon being illustrated in dotted lines; and

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 3--3 of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the evacuation stretcher formed in accordance with the present invention includes a pair of elongated, identical, parallel longitudinal support members 10 and 11, that extend the length of the stretcher and are formed of a length of flexible material of suitable .width. The flexible material employed in the formation of the longitudinal support members, and for that matter, in the formation of the other parts of the invention to be described hereinafter, is preferably conventional canvas webbing or the like, this material being possessed of the requisite qualities of strength and inexpensiveness.

At their opposite ends, the respective longitudinal support members are folded upon themselves to form looped handles 12, and it will be understood that when the stretcher is positioned between a mattress M and a bed springs, not shown, said handles will project beyond the opposite ends of the mattress and springs, so as to be capable of being readily grasped in the event of an emergency such as a conflagration or bombing.

A single transverse support member 14 is also formed of a flexible, strong material, and is arranged normally to the longitudinal support members, medially between the opposite ends of said support members. The opposite ends of the transverse support member 14 extend beyond the respective sides of the stretcher, and are folded upon themselves to form looped side handles 16. The side handles 16, in this connection, would also project beyond the mattress M, so as to be readily grasped when necessary.

Fastening elements 17, such as grommets or the like, are extended through the transverse support member 14 and the longitudinal support members 10 and 11, at their respective points of crossing, a plurality of such fastening elements being used at each point of crossing, so as to provide a fixed connection between the transverse support member and both longitudinal support members.

A first web member has been generally designated 18, and is formed of the same material as that used in the formation of the longitudinal and transverse support members. The first web member 18 is extended spirally about both longitudinal support members, as may be readily noted from either Figure 1 or Figure 2. As will be noted, the first web member underlies and is fixedly connected by grommets 20 at one of its ends to one end of the first longitudinal support member 10. The other end of the first web member 18 underlies the opposite end of the second longitudinal support member 11, and is fixedly connected thereto by grommets 26. Intermediate its ends, the first web member is fixedly connected by grommets 22 and 24 to the second and first longitudinal support members respectively, where it grosses the intermediate portions of said support memers.

The first web member 18, when arranged spirally in the manner referred to, defines a plurality of first web portions 28, each of which is related angularly to both longitudinal support members. The web portions 28 are spaced longitudinally of the stretcher, and as will be readily noted, are fixedly connected at their opposite ends to said longitudinal support members.

A second web member has been generally designated 30, and is arranged spirally about both longitudinal support members, the spiral of the second web member being opposite that of the first web member. The opposite ends of the second web member underlie the opposite ends of the respective longitudinal support members, one underlying end of the second web member being fixedly connected by grommets 32 to one end of the longitudinal support member 11. From said end, the second web member is extended under the adjacent portion of the first web member and is fixedly secured thereto by a series of grommets 34 at the point of crossing, the grommets 34 being disposed medially between the respective longitudinal support members and being arranged in a row aligned with the longitudinal center line of the stretcher. Thereafter, the second web member is connected by grommets 36 fixedly to an intermediate portion of the first longitudinal support member 10, after which it is extended across the transverse support member 14. A single grommet 38 extends through the first and second web members, and through the transverse support member 14, at a location medially between the opposite ends of the stretcher. Grommets 40 arethen employed to fixedly connect the second web member to the second longitudinal support member 11 at another location medially between the connections 22, 26. Thereafter, the other end of the second web member 30 is fixedly connected by grommets 44 to the longitudinal support member 10. As may be noted, the second web member 30 defines a plurality of second web portions 46, spaced longitudinally of the stretcher, and underlying the respective web portions 28.

It will be readily appreciated that the construction illustrated and described, while decidedly inexpensive, possesses the necessary attributes of strength and durability, so that a rescuing party can swiftly evacuate a patient supported upon his mattress end. Further, the stretcher is completely flat, and represents no undesirable thickness whatsoever between the mattress and the bed springs.

It is believed clear that the invention is not necessarily confined to the specific use or uses thereof described above, since it may be utilized for any purpose to which it may be suited. Nor is the invention to be necessarily limited to the specific construction illustrated and described, since such construction is only intended to be illustrative of the principles of operation and the means presently devised to carry out said principles, it being considered that the invention comprehends any minor changes in construction that may be permitted within the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

An evacuation stretcher adapted for disposition between the springs and mattress of a bed, said stretcher being of fiat, flexible formation throughout and comprising: a pair of coplanar longitudinal support members formed from fiat webbing material and extending the length of the stretcher, said members having their outer side edges arranged to define the outer side edges of the stretcher, the opposite ends of said members being formed as loop-like handles adapted to project beyond the opposite ends of a mattress supported upon said members; first and second web members formed from fiat Webbing material and arranged spirally from end to end thereof about both longitudinal support members to form a plurality of web portions spaced longitudinally along the support members, each web portion being related obliquely to the respective support members and having a fixed connection at each of its ends to a support member,

, the respective web portions of the first web. member crossing the respective web portions of the second web member, the web portions". of the respective web members being fixedly connected to one another at their points of crossing, the web portions of each web member including a pair of end web portions and an intermediate web portion, the crossed end web portions of the web members underlying the plane of the longitudinal support members and the crossed intermediate web portions of the web members overlying said plane, the ends of each web portion being fixedly connected to the longitudinal support members independently of the ends of any other web portion; and a transverse support member arranged normally to and underlying the plane of the longitudinal members, said transverse support member having its midlength portion crossing the intermediate web portions and having its end portions crossing the longitudinal members, said transverse member and intermediate web portions, and said transverse and longitudinal support members, being fixedly connected to one another at their points of crossing, the opposite ends of the transverse member projecting laterally and outwardly from their associated longitudinal members and being formed with loop-like handles adapted for disposition beyond the op posite sides of the supported mattress, said longitudinal, transverse, and first and second web members forming a wholly fiat stretcher assembly flexible throughout its area and no greater in thickness at any point than the combined thicknesses of the several members at said points of crossing thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 179,007 Evans June 20, 1876 879,335 Southmayd Feb. 18, 1908 FOREIGN PATENTS 2,672 Netherlands Nov. 15, 1918 338/26 Australia Feb. 8, 1927 62,160 Norway Mar. 11, 1940 263,911 Germany Sept. 12, 1913 468,336 Great Britain July 2, 1937 

